(Kaito x Maki) Usual Training Routine
by Luminary Of The Stars
Summary: With Shuichi not showing up to Kaito's usual training routine, both Maki and Kaito have to train by themselves. Their training however turns into something else pretty quickly...


This is my first attempt at writing romance, so here ya go!  
I hope you like it!

 _ **SPOILERS UP UNTIL CHAPTER 3 OF DANGANRONPA V3**_

"What's holding them up today?"

Kaito was standing in front of the pool, waiting for both Maki and Shuichi to start their daily training routine. This day, he decided to train by swimming in the pool and since entering it at nighttime is prohibited, they were to meet up at 1 PM.

His purple hair illuminated by the sun rays shining down on his head through the window, the astronaut trainee seemed to become tired of waiting for his training partners. Just as he was about to leave the building to get both Maki and Shuichi, a certain assassin entered, gloomy as ever.

"Why here? Why at daytime?" Maki asked him with her usual straight face, not even trying to seem as if she is in a good mood.  
"Sunshine as always, Maki Roll?" he chuckled, making fun of her grim expression before continuing to answer her question: "Well, we did hundreds of pushups and sit-ups and n-"

Kaito was casually interrupted by Maki: "Shuichi and I did, you just pretended to have worked out already beforehand."  
"Hey, no need for hostility, you two need the training more than I do!" he rubbed the back of his head, obviously trying to cover up that she was right with his poor excuse. "Anyway, we are gonna swim and jump a lot today. We need to train our whole bodies as well as possible! Spirit and Body are interconnected, so if your bodies are on point, your mind is ready for anything that might come up!" he said with a big grin on his face, giving her a thumbs up.

Maki was dumbfounded by his weird way of seeing the world. "You certainly are something else…" she mumbled to herself, playing with her hair.

"Huh? You mean I sound like a hero, right?" he asked with a ton of optimism, hitting both of his fists together.

"No, more like an idiot." Maki pouted, averting her eyes from him.

Kaito just shrugged it off, smiled like usual and gave her one of the women's swimsuits he found at the warehouse. "Here ya go, you can change over there!"

Maki's face turned pale as she gripped the swimsuit, her eyes fixed at it, her seemingly getting creeped out. "Th-this...Not only did you grab a girl's swimsuit but this is the exact right size…" Her gaze changed to Kaito and there it was: Her usual death stare.

He was obviously feeling a little bit intimidated, but Kaito being Kaito, he didn't want to show it and overplayed it with his usual over-enthusiasm.

"Well after all the training we already had, your body is certainly in top shape! So I took the size that would fit a woman with the perfect shape! Ain't I considerate?"

"Are you trying to flirt with me?"  
"Wait, n-"

"Do you want to die?"

The atmosphere was really awkward as both of them just stood there, looking at each other without saying a thing for a few seconds. Maki suddenly turned around, her pigtails almost hitting Kaito's face, both of their head illuminated by the strong sunlight as she spoke up.

"Fine, I will change, I am back in a few minutes. Peep and you will die."  
"No worries! Why should I peep when I have my own body to stare at!" he chuckled, while taking his clothes off in the middle of the room. Maki couldn't believe his bluntness, was he really changing in the middle of the room? She didn't want to look but couldn't avert her eyes from the scene unfolding.  
He took off his jacket and shirts first, now standing there with an exposed upper body. He smirked as he noticed Maki still looking at him "Y'know, I already have my swimming shorts on, sorry to disappoint you if you were expecting something!"

His confident giggle was quickly interrupted by Maki being annoyed by him.

"Shut up."

She slammed the door of the changing room behind her and started to change. While she was doing so, she kept on mumbling to herself quietly, a slight pink blush appearing on her face. "What does this idiot think he is doing...Probably just a pervert.."

After changing, she reluctantly left the room and went to the pool area, but what she saw was unbelievable. Even though she, the Ultimate Assassin had dealt with hundreds of dead bodies, she couldn't fathom what happened in front of her.  
Kaito Momota: Luminary of The Stars, was floating on top of the water, his face inside of it..lifeless.

Shocked, yet determined and without hesitation, she jumped into the pool and swam over to Kaito. She took ahold of him and hastily grabbed his head out of the water, tilting it to her.

"KAITO!"

It was completely silent for a short while, Maki seemingly distressed as she tightened the grip on his head. Like before, the sun was shining down on them, its rays illuminating his lifeless body. Or so she thought, as the sunlight reached Kaito's face, his face muscles started to twitch, as if he was asleep, being woken up by sudden exposure to light.

A slight chuckle coming out of his mouth. "Assassin my ass, I knew you had a heart of gold." he said, sticking out his tongue with a wink.

There it was again, her killer stare. Her body started to shake in anger, her eyes fixed on his stupid expression. Kaito slowly realized he messed up, cold sweat running down his forehead, his teeth grit and eyes widened. "This was just a te-"  
Before he could finish his sentence, he found his head inside of the water as Maki kept on pushing him down.

"You wanted to die, right?"

She asked, her expression deadly as ever, not letting him out for air even though he was obviously struggling. His arms were wiggling around, trying to get ahold of something until his right arm gripped her hip out of impulse. This sudden action caused her to tense up, let loose of Kaito and turn around to hide her slight blush.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT?! YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!"

Kaito shouted immediately after coming out of the water.

"You are an astronaut right? You should be able to hold your breath for a few seconds."

She replied snarkily with a condescending smile. Right after coughing up a storm, Kaito returned to his usual cheery self, grinning as always and starting the training routine.  
"So, we are gonna swim 20 laps now! You ready!?"

"What about Shuichi, should we not wait for him?"

"Nah, first come first served. He is gonna have to swim double the amount once he arrives!" he exclaimed with conviction, pointing his arm at the other side of the pool. Come on! First one to swim 20 laps gets to decide the next training routine!"

Mid sentence, Maki darted off, swimming as if she had never done anything else in her life before. Her speed was astonishing and Kaito was not able to keep up with her at all. She finished while he was at his 8th lap, got out of the water and lay down on a towel to enjoy the sun. Kaito's eyes couldn't help but stay fixed on her as she got out and he stopped swimming laps altogether. Of course, Maki noticed and asked:  
"Hm? Why did you stop? Are you going to tell me you swam 50 rounds before I came here?"

"No, it's not that. You just look way better than I initially thought." he told her bluntly with his usual, warm, inviting smile. He is just one to throw out his thoughts nonchalantly, not caring about what the person on the receiving end might think.

Maki didn't know how to respond to that, looking to her side while playing with her hair a bit.

"Shut up, idiot. You are just trying to cover the fact that you don't feel like swimming anymore." she pouted.

"Heh, you really are a tough one to crack, huh?"

He got out of the water and lay down next to her.

"Fine, let's talk for a bit. There is some stuff that has been on my mind anyway."

"Talk? Fine, if we have to."

"Y'know Maki Roll, I am happy you and Shuichi agreed to come train with me every day."

Maki was surprised that Kaito didn't say something stupid for once and continued:  
"Agreed? You kept on dragging me everywhere you go."  
"But you didn't say no, did you?" he smiled.

"I did, multiple times."

"But the 'Ultimate Assassin' could have easily defended herself if she didn't want to, no?"

Maki didn't respond for a while, noticing that he was right. She could have easily knocked him out or anything of that sort if she really didn't want to tag along, yet she didn't.

"What do you want?" she asked him quietly, not looking at him.

"I don't *want* anything. Just happy you opened up, Maki Roll."

"Huh?"

"Well, Shuichi was weak after what happened, yet he was determined to change and look forward, y'know?"

"What are you on about?"

"Simple. I just gave Shuichi a push in the right direction, he would have managed it himself sooner or later, but you…"

Maki was intrigued and sat up.

"But me?"

"You were even weaker than him, hiding from us because of your talent, isolating yourself because of your insecurities."

"I just wanted to keep you safe. You are better off without a killer like-"

Kaito hastily jumped up, his posture confident, his face angry as he pointed at her.

"Don't gimme that crap! We're all in this together! We don't need to be kept safe from a cute girl! I am the Luminary of The Stars! What do you take me for?!"

"Did you just sneak a flirt into that sentence for no reason?" she mumbled quietly, blushing a bit.

"What's wrong with calling a cute girl cute?" he asked with a smile on his face, coming a little closer.

"I am an assassin."

"Ehhh, stop being so edgy." he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head in frustration.

"You don't look like a killer to me. Your eyes are not the eyes of an assassin, your eyes are as beautiful as Mars itself!" he exclaimed with a lot of dedication for some reason. It seemed as if even talking about space gets him pumped.

Maki let out a slight smile, his stupidity and energy were amusing to her and even though she didn't like to admit it, she enjoyed being complimented by him.

"You're an idiot." she pouted, not able to hold back her smile, trying to cover it up by putting her hair in front of it.

"Ahh, that`s the spirit! Who needs space if I can see a smile that shines brighter than every star, right here?" he giggled, coming yet again, closer to her, laying one hand of his on her shoulder.

"As I said, you joining Shuichi and me is great. You are an amazing sidekick, which makes me your hero. You know what that means?" he asked, his smile having a warm and inviting feel to it, akin to the feeling one has when being hugged.

"What does it mean?" she asked reluctantly, averting her gaze from his face to the poolside, her face tinted in a slight red.

"You don't need to be afraid of anything. Cut your 'saving the others from me' shtick. What I am seeing in front of me isn't an assassin, what I see is a girl…"

Kaito took a second to take a breath, usually throwing out compliments was easy for him, but this time it was different. This time, his compliment would have actual impact because he meant it from the bottom of his heart. Kaito Momota: Luminary of the Stars, a man who claims to have conquered the sea, land and soon space, was afraid of the reaction from a girl. He gulped, closed his eyes, inhaled, exhaled, opened his eyes and bursted out, showing his appreciation the only way he knows how:  
"...is a girl who rivals space itself! With eyes red as Mars but with way more life and energy in them, a gorgeous smile, shining brighter than any star in the universe and a mysterious personality I want to explore even more than the deepest depths of space!"

Maki's blush turned darker and darker as she grips both of her pigtails, playing with her hair. The usually calm and collected assassin acted like a love-crazed teenager:

"Y-you stupid idiot. You're really bad with words, you know that?"

Kaito was happy seeing her reaction, even though he got insulted, he knew that she was happy hearing that.

"Heh, I know." Saying this, his hand moved from her shoulder to her chin.

Using his index finger, he lifted her head up, making her face him directly. His purple eyes were gazing right into her blood red pupils. Neither of them were able avert their eyes from each other. It almost seemed as if Kaito was exploring her beautiful eyes and the assassin got lost in his charming, warm gaze as just him touching her chin made her feel needed, loved. Love, one of the many things an assassin has to abandon. Was this even love? Was Kaito just playing a stupid trick on her again?

"Kaito, what is this-"

She could not finish her sentence. It was not that her mind didn't let her finish it, Kaito simply took action.

The Ultimate Assassin, trained to silence people, silenced herself by the kiss of the Ultimate Astronaut. Maki was hesitant at first, not really participating in the kiss but not doing anything against it either. After a few seconds, Kaito took ahold of her hand, gripping it tightly, stroking her hair softly with the other. His strong hand gripping hers basically telling her that it's alright and that he is there for her, led her to indulge in the kiss. Both of them closing their eyes, losing themselves in the moment, thinking about nothing else but this.

To them there was nothing around them at this moment, it was as if they were both adrift in space, all alone in the never ending depths of the universe.

Kaito slowly broke the kiss, looking into her eyes again.

"With you around, space seems unimportant. It's crazy…"

Maki looked at the ground like an embarassed child, her cheeks tinted in a dark pink. "You really have to ruin everything by talking." she remarked snarkily, smiling.

Right as the two of them were about to kiss each other again, the door to the pool busted open, causing them to hastily change what they were doing. Maki was pretending to lay down and Kaito jumped into the pool.

Shuichi entered the pool almost an hour late.

"Hey guys, what have you been up to? I apologize for being too late, Miu was pretty hard to deal with."

"OI! Shuichi, change and let's swim 50 laps together!"

"50?!" Shuichi was shocked.

"Yes! 50! Come on, bro!"

"Umm, fine. What were you two doing while I wasn't here? Maki seems awfully blushy."

Both Kaito's and Maki's heart skipped a beat as Shuichi questioned them. Kaito being Kaito, found a solution fitting to this problem.

"Well when I dove into the water, I kinda lost mx swimming shorts…"

"What?!"

"Don't worry, she's over it." Kaito giggled.

Shuichi sighed, starting to chuckle right after:

"You're hopeless. Oh hey Kiyo!"

He waved at Kiyo who was sitting near the wall, reading a book.

"K-K-KIYO?!" Kaito shouted, his face turning dark red.

"Kehehehe, love is truly something beautiful, is it not, Shuichi?" Kiyo asked, seemingly excited as he stood up and made his leave.

"True love is what makes us human, certainly pure beauty!" he exclaimed walking out.

"Umm, guys, what was that abo-KAITO!"

Shuichi hastily jumped into the pool after suddenly seeing Kaito floating in the water, lifeless.

"Idiot." Maki smiled, resting her head on her legs as she sits up.

Seems as if the Ultimate assassin fell in love with a child unable to keep their head out of the sky.

For the first time in years, she felt loved.

The End


End file.
